Budget supermarket chain Aldi has vowed to build store after store in Sussex after hundreds of shoppers turned up for the opening of its latest shop.

People queued from 5.30am yesterday to be the first through the doors of the store on London Road, Brighton.

German superstore Aldi boasts of being up to 25% cheaper than competitors and is one of the few retailers to increase huge rises in sales in the recession.

As a result it is planning to open more than 1,000 new UK stores over the next few years.

It has already bought sites in Lewes and East Grinstead and is looking for locations for more in Sussex.

Aldi could be joined by rival budget retailer Lidl, which has nine Sussex stores including ones in Brighton, Burgess Hill, Worthing, Eastbourne, Hastings and Crawley.

A spokeswoman for Lidl, which is also German-owned, said the firm was “actively seeking” sites in the county.

Simon Robinson, the South East operations manager for Aldi, which also has stores in Portslade and Bexhill, said: “We had 400 customers in the queue this morning which is the biggest we have ever seen for a grand opening.

“Part of this is that Aldi is becoming more prominent in the South East but also I think it is due to the credit crunch.

“We are 20-25% cheaper than Tesco and Sainsbury's and customers are deciding with their feet.”

Sales at the Portslade store are up 40% in a year while nationally they rose 27% year-on-year.

Mr Robinson said: “Those figures are unbelievable in the current economic climate. At the moment Aldi has more than 400 stores in the UK and we are looking to increase that total to 1,500.

“We are always looking for new sites in the South east, including Sussex.”

Throughout yesterday, shoppers were entertained by live music while they enjoyed free drinks and cakes.

Store manager Saskia Mueller, 26, said she was delighted with the opening, adding: “I've been to a few grand openings before but never one as big as this. We expected there to be a lot of customers but we didn't expect anything like this – there were about 300 customers queuing outside before we opened. Since then the pace hasn't gone down at all.”

The German retailer is the fourth supermarket chain to open in the London Road area, with Somerfield, Co-op and Sainsbury's all within yards of each other.

The Somerfield store was reportedly quiet yesterday as shoppers queued for the Aldi opening.

But neighbouring traders welcomed the new addition to the London Road area.

Sarah Blaber, the owner of Xtreme hair salon, opposite the new store, said: “I think it is really good because I have been staring at an empty shop for the past two years.

“It should bring a bit more business down this end of London Road. I would have preferred a nice clothes shop though.”

Joy Flowers, the head of the London Road Traders Association and who works for Dakers Solicitors, warned the new store staff to be wary of some of the problems which has blighted London Road over the years.

She said: “It is a welcome addition but I hope they are careful about selling drink to all the drunks who hang about the level.

“They should find out about them pretty fast.”

Although she was happy the empty space had been filled by Aldi, Ms Flowers said she would have preferred a different type of store.

She said: “It is disappointing it is another supermarket as its a lovely 1960s building which could be home to something really nice.

“We need something like a Next down here and a quality toy shop to get more families visiting.”

Sophie Nillward, the manager of the British Heart Foundation charity shop, said the new Aldi should good for other businesses even though she is not a fan.

She said: “I must admit I don't like supermarkets and try not to shop in them. They force you to buy things that you don't need.

“But it's good something new has come to London Road. It's not particularly nice down here and it's not getting any nicer.

“What we really need is for the Open Market to be done up.”